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Armor
Armor is any item worn over clothing. Typically, it offers some sort of protection against attacks, either physical or magical (or both). This article: * Lists and describes the various categories of armor * Shows the degree of protection offered by each category * Shows armor restrictions by class and kit * Provides a sortable list of every piece of armor, providing some critical information on each piece Armor Categories Armor can be categorized as follows (from light to heavy): * [[:Category:Robes|'Robes']]: Since the age of Netheril, mages have learned to bestow a wide variety of magical properties upon the everyday objects that surround them. A favorite item of such enchantment is the common robe. It is lightweight, affordable, and holds its enchantment well, thereby making it ideal equipment for a mage. Due to their magical heritage, however, only single-, dual-, and multi-class mages may wear these enchanted robes. * [[:Category:Leather armor|'Leather armor']]: Basic armor made of thick, wax or water-hardened leather. It is sturdy protection, not supple like boots or a cloak. Soft garment leathers like that would offer no more protection than common clothing. * [[:Category:Studded leather|'Studded leather']]: Studded leather armor has little in common with normal leather armor. Instead of a hardened shell, studded leather offers hundreds of metal rivets affixed to a supple backing. The numerous studs form a flexible coat of metal that helps to turn aside slashing and cutting attacks, while the leather is little more than a means of securing the rivets in place. * [[:Category:Hide armor|'Hide armor']] - Hide armor is made from the thick hide of a very large animal (an elephant for example) or from many layers of normal leather from common animals, like cows. Hide armor is far too bulky, inflexible and heavy to be used much in advanced human cultures. However, among the barbaric humanoid masses throughout the dark forests and misty jungles of the world, hide armor is common. Even though it does offer more protection than leather armor, one must get by the offensive odor and shoddy appearance in order to wear it effectively. Even though Thieves can wear this armor, it has a negative effect on their abilities. * [[:Category:Chain mail|'Chain Mail']]: Chain mail is made of interlocking metal rings. It is always worn over a layer of padded fabric or soft leather to prevent chafing and lessen the impact of blows. * [[:Category:Splint mail|'Splint mail']]: Splint mail is a variant of banded mail in which the metal strips are applied vertically to the backing of chain, leather, or cloth rather than horizontally as in banded mail. Since the body does not swivel in mid-torso as much as it flexes back to front, splint mail is more restrictive in battle. * [[:Category:Plate mail|'Plate mail']]: Plate mail is a combination of chain armor with metal plates covering the vital areas such as the chest, abdomen, and groin. Similar in construction to bronze plate mail, true plate mail comprises chain and leather. * [[:Category:Full plate|'Full plate']]: Full plate armor is the best armor a warrior can buy, both in appearance and protection. The perfectly fitted, interlocking plates are specially angled to deflect arrows and blows, and the entire suit is carefully adorned with rich engraving and embossed detail. Physical Damage Protection The overall level of protection that a type of armor provides is known as its base armor class value. For example, leather armor has a base AC of 8 and studded leather has a base AC of 7 (lower numbers are better). Depending on the materials used to construct a type of armor (or how those materials are assembled) the degree of protection offered for certain types of physical damage may be better or worse than the base armor class. For example, on balance leather armor is easier to pierce than to slash or crush and chain mail is much harder to slash than it is to pierce or crush. In the game, you'll see variations in physical-damage protection reflected in two ways. The armor's description will report the base armor class and include any exceptions in parenthesis after it. For example, the description of leather armor shows: Armor Class: 8 (10 vs. piercing and missile) The inventory screen and character record will report an overall AC of 8 and document the variations in the "Armor Class Modifiers" section: Armor Class Modifiers Missile: +2 Piercing: +2 Note that a character's overall AC and damage type modifiers can also be affected by other gear the character is wearing. See the main Armor Class article for more details. The table below shows the AC values for each category of armor across all the physical damage types. By comparing the Base column to the individual damage columns, you can see what modifiers will be reported for the armor. For example, Leather armor shows a base of 8, which means it will report a +2 modifier for piercing and missles. Robes have been omitted from the table since they offer no base protection from physical damage. If a piece of armor has a +1 enchantment, it means the AC values listed in the table are reduced by 1. For example, basic plate mail offers an AC of 3 (0 vs. slashing), and Plate Mail +1 offers an AC of 2 (-1 vs. slashing). When dealing with unique pieces of armor, the overall AC value will still adhere to this rule, but there may be variations in the bonuses. For example, Delver's Plate +2 retains the typical plate mail damage profile, offering an AC of 1 (-2 vs. slashing). Gorgon Plate +4, however, has the expected AC of -1, but its slashing protection is -7 instead of -4. Usage Restrictions Each class has different needs and preferences when it comes to the types of armor its members wear. Thieves for example, require armor that is quiet and flexible as it facilitates their stealth abilities. As members of the Priest class group, Druids could possibly wear metal armors but their ethos forbids it. A class kit may impose additional restrictions on what armor can be worn, but it is never more permissive. For example, like all Druids, Avengers cannot wear metal armor, but they take the restrictions much further and only permit the use of leather armor. The following table summarizes which classes (by kit) can use which armors. The Armor Group column shows the highest category of armor a group can wear. For example, kitted rangers and shaman can wear leather, studded leather or hide armor so their group is called "Hide". The Non-metallic group (for Druids) includes all armors up through to Hide, but only dragon scale armors and Ankheg Plate Mail from the higher categories. If a kit is not listed, it inherits its parent class's armor group. A class may permit its membmers to wear armor of a particular category, but that doesn't mean they can wear all pieces of armor in that category. This can happen for a few reasons: * A piece of armor may have been specialized for use by a particular class. For example, Shadow Armor can only be used by theives, even though Ranger Stalkers also have stealth abilities. * A character's alignment may further restrict the armor available to them. Robe of the Evil Archmagi cannot be worn by characters of good or neutral alignments. * Several companions wear armor that has been specifically designed for or fitted to them, preventing its use by anyone else. List of All Armors The following table lists all the armors available to the protagonist. * The Stealth column indicates whether the item permits use of the ''hide in shadows'' ability. A value of "P" means the armor imposes stealth penalties. * The Arcane Casting column indicate whether the casting of wizard spells is still permitted. * The special abilities column summarizes special features of the armor. Bonuses are prefixed with "+", even if they decrease the related score (e.g., +1 saves actually improves saving throws by 1 by reducing the required ST score). See also *Shields *Category:Armor *Armor Class Category:Armor Category:Lists